The Cold War with the old Soviet Union has long ended while the hot war in the Middle East drags on. Now comes a book by a former Daily Press reporter that focuses on a “warm war” — and the U.S., he argues, is losing it.

“Crashback” by Michael Fabey describes the escalating tensions between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China, which is largely a contest of two navies. It is familiar ground for Fabey. He covered the Newport News shipyard for the Daily Press before becoming the military reporter at the Savannah Morning News. From there he went to Aviation Week, where he specialized in defense contract analysis and naval programs. He recently began work as the Americas naval writer for the Janes magazine group and the U.S. editor for Jane’s Fighting Ships, a respected annual reference book with information on all of the world’s warships.

Writing for these and other publications, Fabey has amassed more than two dozen journalism awards. That includes the 2014 Timothy White Award for a Pulitzer-nominated investigative series about the U.S. Navy’s attempts to obscure problems with the littoral combat ship. A Philadelphia native, the 55-year-old Fabey resides in Spotsylvania.

The book takes its title from a Navy term that refers to conducting a full reverse at sea, a fitting metaphor for U.S. policy toward China, Fabey says. China has made incremental but important gains by erecting a “wall of sand,” a relentless reclamation effort in the South China Sea, building artificial islands atop coral reefs that will serve as forward operating bases.

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China’s assertiveness has led to tense encounters, such as the December 2013 incident in which a Chinese warship nearly hit the guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens in international waters in the South China Sea. In 2016, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. dispatched the USS John C. Stennis carrier strike group to patrol the region as a testament to the freedom of navigation. It was Harris, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, who coined the “wall of sand” phrase.

Fabey says the U.S. has only recently begun to recognize that America’s security, both economic and military, hinges on having the will to win this warm war.

“It’s been a policy of accommodation — some might call it appeasement — with a Chinese leadership that has taken full advantage of American complacency to expand its aggressive military reach in the Western Pacific region to the detriment of its neighbors,” Fabey writes.

Fighting a warm war means redefining the traditional concepts of victory and defeat. There will be no fall of the Berlin Wall, no signing of surrender documents. In fact, Fabey says, the downfall of China would be a terrible outcome because the country has stimulated trade with the U.S. and around the globe.

So in a warm war, what does victory look like?

It’s maintaining the status quo. And yes, that doesn’t sound very exciting, Fabey admits. But in this case, the status quo means peacefully resolving disputes through international law, not through bullying or tense standoffs that could lead to something far worse. It means “the maintaining of safe, free and unrestricted passage over the Western Pacific and its subordinate seas for ships of all nations,” he writes.

“Crashback” doesn’t depend on government reports, white papers or think-tank analysts. The book is based on Fabey’s own on-the-deckplate reporting with sailors, pilots and other decision-makers. He also gained valuable insight rom covering events like RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. The Chinese sent ships to RIMPAC 2014, and Fabey snagged an interview with the leader of the Chinese task force.

“The wonky stuff, the policy stuff is in the background, in many cases way in the background,” he said in an interview. “Instead, the focus is on these people who are on the bridges, who are on the deck plates, who are in the cockpits — and what is going through their minds at key times. Because in the end, it’s going to be what they do or don’t do, in a couple of minutes or a couple of seconds, that will be the difference between war or no war.”

The Center for Strategic and International Studies will hold a book launch event for “Crashback” on Oct. 25 at its Washington, D.C., headquarters. The book is available for pre-order on Amazon.